Tottenham Club Focus - What to do with Sandro?

By Kdot on 31 October 2011 at 13:10

I must admit that harry has a difficult decision to make. He's obviously brought in scott to start and he has responded with consistently good performances this season. But if I'm being honest i can't help but think that Sandro is our best dm and probably one of the best in the world. I think Harry has to be ruthless here and if he intends to play two mids, then sandro has to partner Modric. By the way am i the only one that would rather Kaboom start ahead of Dawson?

By ian on 28 October 2011 at 07:58

Why not try 3-5-1-1? So 3 x centre backs (eg Kaboul/King/Dawson), 2x wing backs (Walker/Bale) 2 x holding mids (Parker/Sandro) 2x Playmakers/Support striker roaming free (Modric/VdV) and 1x Main Striker (Adebayor).

By Colin SC on 28 October 2011 at 04:36

If there is a dispute over who is the strongest we should be happy. If we look at who are our srongest players for their spot we can almost auto chose the team. Freidal our top choice goalie Kaboul and BAE are our best two defenders at the moment but the positions can be bolstered up or changed by slotting in either Ledley or Gallas when fit. Our wide players Walker and Bale should imho be right and left backs respectively. They are fast enough to add width and aslo get back (Walker needs help and training to improve this it is his only weakness) In the mid-field Modders is our little general and needs to be directing traffic in the middle where he is best, Sandro and Parker could be on either side of him they can strengthen the defence or attack in the middle and give Modders the space to do what he does best. In front of Modders in his pocket where he likes to move in and out of stick VDV to do what he does best. This leaves space for two Ade and Defoe ...this formation plays to all our strengths and most of the positions have cover for them. If this is the basic formation we can move players around for instance if we want to be seriously defensive we could add in Ledders and gallas with BAE and Kaboom I dont think we would get too much more attacking with the players we have at the moment. The midfield could be jiggled about a bit and where we can we should try out new blood if we are way ahead. There should always be options on the bench for new blood.

By Andrew on 27 October 2011 at 18:26

Huge fan of Sandro. The only Spurs jersey I own has Sandro's name on the back. Parker and Modric are playing too well to justify Sandro starting. However, at 31 years of age, Parker can rightfully be considered to have a higher injury-risk profile, especially if we consider that he probably works harder than anyone else on the pitch. So, I think it won't be too long until Sandro sees quality minutes in the Premiership this season. And, in the long-term, as Parker's age becomes even more of a factor, and Sandro's experience gains, Sandro will be a key figure at White Hart Lane. And, if he's not patient enough, Levy will make a nice profit on the sale. All good scenarios with the Sandro signing.

By bob on 27 October 2011 at 11:24

Avoid making a mistake we made in prince boatengs case letting him go en he is now a super star somewhere, please keep sandro for he s one of a kind in the modern football pls pls

By JOHNNY DUCKETT on 27 October 2011 at 10:55

AT ALL COSTS SANDRO MUST PLAY EVERY WEEK AND EVERY MIDWEEK A POSITION IN THE SPURS SIDE MUST BE FOUND INFACT HE IS THE ONLY PLAYER WHO WE CAN BUILD THE TEAM AROUND , VDV OUT SHINES DEFOE NO BOTHER , PARKER AND MODRIC TO-GATHER , SANDRO CAN ALSO BE PLAYED WE HAVE NEVER BEEN SO RICH STOP PICKING SILLY PEOPLE FOR WRONG POSITIONS HARRY FOR BIG WHITE ELEPHANT SAKE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! FRIEDEL WALKER KABOUL EKOTTO PARKER SANDRO MODRIC LENNON VDV ADEBYOR BALE 3 X 3 X4 .

By Colin SC on 27 October 2011 at 01:44

4-3-3 Walker Kaboom BAE Bale Sandro Modders Parker VDV Defoe Ade See, everybody fits in nicely, just put Defoe on the right. Another good alternative is to Start JD and Ade then early second half bring on VDV if he is going through a tired phase again and bring on Sandro then to toughen up the midfield. Sandro has the potential to play in a variety of roles and is a future legend imo. The back line should have Gallas or King in when they are fit (this also allows for much needed rotation) but at the moment this would still work. If we play a seriously attacking team we can load up the back by changing wide players for more defence.

By jonno on 26 October 2011 at 20:22

I would like to see a change up by sometimes putting Bale at left back doing what walker does getting up and down the wing so to get all our best players on the pitch 4-3-1-2 Freidal, Bale, King, Kaboul/Gallas, Walker, Sandro, Modric, Parker, Vdv, Ade, Defoe. We would smash enough teams!!

By EngNor on 26 October 2011 at 15:42

Simples! We either play Him, or lose Him through the lack of playing time. Rather have Sandro for the next 4years plus than a player in the twilight of their career. Be a disaster if Sandro looked for grasses greener.

By Alan Robins on 26 October 2011 at 13:27

This was always going to be a concern with Harry's pursuit of Scott Parker - where would Sandro fit in and would his progress be stunted. Sandro showed last season how good he can become. Harry went out on a limb to persuade Daniel Levy to hand a 30 year old player such a contract and transfer fee on top so I cannot see Parker being anything else than first choice when fit. The surprise was Parker being handed a 4 year contract – too long and the length of this could easily give Sandro concern as to his long term future at the Lane. Unfortunately as was seen with Niko Kranjcar, Defoe and others last season, Harry does not really do squad rotation in the EPL - Europa League is different - fine for youngsters but we've already seen Pav etc getting frustrated at only starting in Cup games. In the EPL, there may be occasions when two DM would be tactically correct but I cannot see HR doing this too often. His preferred formation is 442 or 4411 and two DMs is going to narrow our natural width and lessen the impact of Bale and Lennon. The [nice? ] problem is Parker has started well and is doing a good job leaving Sandro now back from injury, bench warming. Parker brings experience and quality to the midfield, at present Sandro brings quality but being 10years younger could be the cornerstone of the Spurs midfield for years to come. Parker is a good player, Sandro has the potential to be an outstanding one – I would prefer to see Sandro start ahead of Parker but at the very least Harry should be rotating between the two. As a side note to this with the emergence this season of Jake Livermore and Tom Carroll it may be Tom Huddlestone who squad place is more under threat

By IGSpur on 26 October 2011 at 12:48

Glad to see spurs fans realising that Sandro is our best DM and needs to start. Away from home you can play 4231 with Sandro and Parker holding. With Vdv right and Modric middle Bale(or Townsend) left. At the Lane same formation but Sandro adn modders central Vdv in middle and Lennon and Bale on wings, both have been underperorming recently. Fair dos lennon has been injured but we could always give townsend,falque that role in wing and see how they do

By IGSpur on 26 October 2011 at 12:38

Don't see the problem just play sandro and modric in cm whether it be 442 or 4231. Modric has to play central and sandro our best dm. Problem sorted

By Tim Doel on 26 October 2011 at 12:24

@Horace Thanks for commenting. Id love to see Sandro in the team - Harry has mentioned playing him with Parker as you say, but has only done it once, in his first league game back (90mins), rather than the following two (one sub appearance), and im afraid i just dont believe that either Harry will move Modric onto the right on a regular basis, nor that Modric will accept that - van der vaart has only just said 'im not doing that', about playing on the right, and modric would do the same, not to mention we get the best of him through the centre, and Harry likes pacey wingers. Let me be clear - im not saying those are my views, they are not really, they are my views on what Harry's views are, based on his history at the club...

By Horace on 26 October 2011 at 12:14

A player got away because he is playing in a slow unfit league? He couldn't handle the pace of the Premier League. Sandro is coming back from an injury so you don't overplay someone to get them injured again, you ease them in. Parker and Sandro will play in front of the back four Harry has already said that.

By Tim Doel on 26 October 2011 at 12:11

@Ray Cheers for commenting. I'm not inventing a problem though, this is a real issue. And although the general consensus is a change of formation to suit him and parker together, that isnt going to happen under Harry, in my opinion. Its not about ideals, its about what we are actually going to do, hence why there is an issue worth addressing here. I dont think for a second that Harry will change formation, especially as we are playing well, and it worked so well for us in the past too. Imagine if i wrote an article about how we need to change our formation regardless of our great start - people'd say i was crazy! P.s. i didnt mention Marin?

By Ray on 26 October 2011 at 12:03

Every Spurs supporter knows the quality and value Sandro brings to the team. When he is fully fit, I believe that Redknapp will have him as a regular in the team, to sit infront of the back four, much like Claude Makelele did at Cheatski. Therefore allowing Bale, Modric and Parker to run the midfield with VDV just behind Ade. In other words, a midfield 5. Your question should have been, what to do with Lennon. All this rubbish being reported in the low class press about Marin on the radar is nonsense, Spurs do not need him or is this just a fore taste of whats to come in the January windon (Marin in to replace Modric who is off to Cheatski - I can see it now). There is no problem with Sandro so stop trying to invent one.

By paul on 26 October 2011 at 12:02

ummm play him?? he's absolute class??

By Ben on 26 October 2011 at 11:59

Spot on Andrew. This line up is the way to go. The front 4 could interchange positions brilliantly. VDV isn't necessarilyy the Right sided one all game and can swap his position with the other three. We would be so hard to beat with the back 7 and would have great link between defence to attack with the two dm's. At no time are we outnumbered in the middle by teams coming to park the bus and would have as much width as we wanted and as much attacking threat also.

By Tim Doel on 26 October 2011 at 11:56

Interesting comments so far - one thing i think we can say, rightly or wrongly is that Harry will not change from a rough 4-4-2 formation, no matter how well our players fit into the old Galaticos real madrid formation. As for putting Sandro ahead of Parker, its a difficult one. his record for spurs speaks for itself, and while he isnt as noticeable around the pitch as sandro, or skillful, he does a very important job. Parker is also a first-teamer with England at the moment, and to drop him looks risky and unneccesary on paper, even if i rate Sandro as highly as any youngster out there.

By True Spurs Supporter on 26 October 2011 at 11:56

Look Parker has settled in well & I most definitely like him BUT Sandro MUST be our No. 1 partner in a 2 man CM. However if we change to a 4-2-3-1 or similar then Sandro will partner Parker, leaving Modders to be part of the Attacking 4. Parker was signed as a SQUAD player, Sandro is & always SHOULD be our starting CM, if the Management fail in utilising him it will be a CATASTROPHIC mistake.

By Tony Borg on 26 October 2011 at 11:50

Although Scott Parker is a wonderful player, I think when both fit we have two choices, we either play Sandro and have Scott Parker as his understudy or play them both, my team would be if all fit, Friedel, Walker, Dawson, King, BAE, Sandro, Parker, Modric, VDV, Bale, Adebayor, That team would be solid when defending having Sandro & Parker covering & allowing either of them to go forward when on the offensive where they are both very capable.

By Jill on 26 October 2011 at 11:49

Simple - when Sandro is properly fit he plays ahead of Parker. He is already a better player and will be a much much better player!!

By Andrew on 26 October 2011 at 11:46

It's simple and I don't understand why we haven't done or at least it already. 4-2-3-1 Friedel Walker Daws Galllas/King BAE Parker Sandro VDV Modric Bale Adebayor. It needs to be tested!